


Down time

by honeybee592



Series: OTP: Brains, Brawn, and Biotics [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-02
Updated: 2014-10-02
Packaged: 2018-02-19 15:43:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2393951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeybee592/pseuds/honeybee592
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James and Kaidan bond over their love of cheese and Shepard.</p><p>(Cheating again with these two. Originally posted in James and the Giant Reaper. Moved to be part of the OTP: Brains, Brawn, and Biotics series.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cheese, Crackers, and Hamsters

James slouched against the wall in lower engineering, nursing a scraped arm and probable bruised ribs.  _Love’s a bitch_ _._  He sighed and knocked his head against the wall a couple of times. Damn, he’s in deep and it’s taken him injuring himself down here to realise it.

Footsteps reverberated on the stairs. A pair of boots descended, followed by black and grey BDUs, a bright blue hoodie tucked under one arm. Kaidan paused at the foot of the stairs, side eyeing James before wandering over.

“Hey Major. What brings you down here?” James asked, thankful for the distraction.

Kaidan slumped down opposite James, knees pulled up, Spectre hoodie bunched up behind his head like a pillow.

“Could ask you the same thing,” he said.

“I asked first.”

Kaidan chuckled. “Just need some space for myself. It’s chaos up there.”

James knew exactly what Kaidan meant. The ship was crawling with diplomats and no one seemed to get on with anyone else. Turned out you couldn’t just bring all the species in the galaxy together with home-style cooking, plenty of beer, and a few dick jokes. James had found that one out the hard way.

“So?” Kaidan asked, head tilted back, watching James through half closed eyes.

“Oh, right.” James rubbed the back of his neck, sucked in a sharp breath. He was kinda embarrassed to be caught down here doing this. “Trying to catch Lola’s damn hamster.”

Kaidan chuckled again, fixing James with a knowing smile. “You really like her, huh.”

James hesitated for half a heartbeat. But when he spoke, it was all bravado. “Hell yeah. Everyone likes Commander Shepard.  _You_  like her, I’ve noticed.” He’s sure as hell not gonna have this conversation with Kaidan, of all people. Especially when he smirks like that. James feared the rumours of mid-reading biotics were true.  _Time to deflect_ . “You look like shit Major. You want me to leave you alone?”

“No, it’s fine.” Kaidan replied.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, the soft hum of the drive core providing a soundtrack; both men lost in their own worlds. James’ ribs ached. His arm, wrist to shoulder, stung as the cool air breathed over the scraped skin. The discomfort focused him, kept him from thinking too much about why he’d come down here in the first place. That and Kaidan sitting opposite him, eyes almost closed, hands resting on his knees. He wasn’t kidding; the man looked rough. His jaw set tight, his breathing controlled. 

Kaidan frowned, waved a finger at James. “What happened to you?” he asked.

“Dove for that stupid hamster. This floor’s like a cheese grater. Almost had the fucker, too.”

Kaidan huffed. “You want medi-gel?” He patted his pockets, looking for a tube.

“Nah, thanks  _hombre_. I’m pretty tough.”

“Yeah, I got that. Speaking of cheese. You want some?” Kaidan rummaged in his pockets, pulling out a block of cheese. A whole block wrapped in a cloth bag.

“You biotics are fuckin' loco.” He laughed, reaching out as Kaidan passed it over. Damn, good old cheddar. The pungent smell hit him as he broke off a chunk, bits crumbling onto his lap. Hadn’t had real cheese for… a long time. He tucked it back in the bag and tossed it back.

“Got any crackers for this shit?” he asked, only half serious.

With a sly smile, Kaidan’s hand ducked into another pocket, pulled out a handful of crackers. Leaning to the side, he dug into different pocket and plonked a small jar and a butter knife on the floor between them. ‘Quince jam’, the neatly handwritten label read.

"You’re shitting me.” James shook his head, grinning. He picked up a cracker, carefully cut a slice of cheese, slathered it with the jam and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth.

“This is fucking good shit.” He mumbled through a full mouth.

Kaidan wasn’t so greedy with his cracker, nibbling on the edge. “Mom makes quince jam every year. This was in the last package she sent. Then the Reapers hit.” Talking about his mom, his half smile and glazed eyes made him look a like a little boy again.

This tiny jar was Kaidan’s last connection with his family, with Earth, and here he was sharing it with someone who not long ago called him a sanctimonious prick. If this wasn’t true love, James didn’t know what was. Certainly not shredding your arm up trying to tackle an escaped hamster for your commanding officer just because you wanted to do something nice for her, that’s for sure.  _In deep, James. Deep._

“You know James, you’re not half-bad. We got off to a bit of a rough start, but we’re good now, I think.” Kaidan said.

James grinned, thinking back to Mars. What a shit storm that’d been.

“Yeah. We’re good,  _amigo_.” He huffed. “On Mars, I spent the whole time wanting to crack my rifle butt over your head. That mech bet me to it, though.” James nudged Kaidan with his boot. “I’m kinda glad it didn’t finish you off though.”

“Only kinda?” Kaidan teased.

As they chatted, slowly devouring the cheese and crackers, Kaidan lay out little crumbs in a semicircle around him. That man made no sense.

James had been apprehensive about Kaidan’s return to the Normandy. He’d finally found his place after spending so long wanting to go home. The Normandy was home now, he knew it. Ground side, he tore up the field with Lola and Scars; shooting shit, creating carnage. Ship side, he ruled the Mess, cooking up feasts worthy of those fancy restaurants back home. Shepard came down regularly for sparring sessions and pep talks. He loved those the most. Loved Shepard the most. Sometimes she’d bring a bottle of booze, and they’d sneak behind the crates and giggle like teenagers. They’d flirt and laugh, puppy eyes and and little touches. But he couldn’t let himself involved with her. It wasn’t the regs; experience had taught him that military life and relationships didn’t mix. Didn’t stop him falling for her, though. Hard. Really, life didn’t get much better. Except for galaxy being destroyed, but hey, it brought him and Lola together. But then Kaidan came back and stole James’ thunder on all three fronts.

First of all, Shepard never took them both groundside. Maybe memories of Mars still loomed fresh in her mind. Certain missions called for certain skills so she’d made up a couple of teams. Kaidan, Liara, and Shepard made up Team Blue Bell. The two biotics wrecked their enemies like nothing else. James would watch the feeds of the ground team, watch Kaidan tear apart people with his mind. How could he compete with that?

Second, Kaidan had proved himself to be a master chef, too. The things that man could do with a bottle of beer and a pack of bacon.  _Damn_. They’d had a cook-off once. Flames flying from the  stove top, benches covered in flour, egg shells and bottle caps littering the floor, the pair freely throwing curses at each. Kaidan had narrowly won the popular vote. Shepard had had the chance to level it up but abstained from voting, saying both dishes were equally excellent. Though she’d thrown a wink at James after she’d said it. Tease.

Finally, there was Shepard. It always came back to Shepard. James could hardly say he’d been monopolising her time before, but since Kaidan had come back, the Shuttle Bay had definitely seen less of her. No more sneaking in booze. No more innuendo about penetration testing or barrel lengths. Instead, a lot of her time was spent with Kaidan in the War Room, liaising with Hackett, writing reports, reading reports, stacking reports on top of other reports.

James had to admit, Kaidan grounded the Normandy, especially Shepard. His quiet, calm, professional demeanor permeated the ship. Contrast that with James’ pissing contests with Scars, the bowling alley he’d set up in the corridor leading to the main battery, and the music he played, pounding through the shuttle bay while he worked. The two men were completely different in everything except their devotion to Shepard.

But it wasn’t a competition with Kaidan. They just complemented each other. And Shepard.

“I watched the feed from that last mission.” Kaidan said. “You three are a tight team. Makes for a good show.” For those other missions, Team Vanity Fair hit the ground.

James flushed at the praise. “Thanks, took some getting used to though. Couldn’t believe it when she sent me out  _alone_  into the middle of that first firefight. Thought I’d have Scars on my three. But no. Fucking shat myself, I’m telling you.”

“Yeah, she’d do the same thing with me.” Kaidan chuckled. “‘Trust me, K’, she’d say, ‘I’ve got your back.’” He paused, lost in some happy memory. Then his face clouded over and he stared at the ground, whispering, “she always had my back. Always. Even when I didn’t have hers.”

James knew enough about what happened on Horizon to understand how hard it must have been to make that decision. How much it had crushed him. And Shepard. His guts twisted at the thought of having to make that decision himself.

“Well you’ve got her back now. You Blue Bells kick ass out there.”

“Yeah. I got her back.” Kaidan smiled at the double meaning, voice low and soft.

“Kinda gets lonely out front, you know?” James said, changing the topic to lead Kaidan away from those memories.

“Ask her to change things around, then.”

“What? No way.” James shook his head. “Can’t just tell the Commander how to do her job.”

“Why not? She values the feedback of her team. I do it all the time. She hasn’t kicked me out yet.” He paused to chuckle, “and she’s had plenty of opportunity.”

 “Yeah, but you’re a Major, a Spectre,  _and_  her best bro. ‘Course she’s gonna listen to you.”

 “Trust me James, she’ll listen to you, too.”

 A soft snuffling came out from the floor next to Kaidan. The hamster nosed its way out to nibble at a crumb of cheese from Kaidan’s semi-circle.  A ripple of blue surrounded Kaidan, then the hamster. It floated up, surrounded in a blue bubble. Kaidan sent it over to James. He closed his hands around the little fur ball and the field crackled away.

 “Cheater.” He muttered.

 “Go. Take it to her. I’m sure she could use the break.” He closed his eyes, settled back into his hoodie pillow.

 James hauled himself up, pins and needles lancing down his leg, ass aching from sitting on the rigid metal floor for so long.

 James paused at the base of the stairs. “Hey Major,” he called.

 Kaidan cracked his eyes open, tilted his head in James’ direction, waited for James to continue.

 “Think we can try working groundside again?”

 A small smile played on Kaidan’s lips. “Sure. Think you’re brave enough to ask Shepard yourself, or do you need me to come with and hold your hand?”

 “Fuck off, Major.”

“Love you too, Lieutenant.”


	2. Hamsters and medigel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James takes Shepard's hamster up to her cabin, gets patched up, and talks ground-side tactics.

With the hamster cupped in his hands, James elbowed the elevator button. He’d go up to Shepard’s cabin, drop off the hamster, ask about going groundside with Kaidan. Simple. No problems. _Why does this elevator take so long?_ He stepped over to the window, looking down on the Shuttle Bay, saw Esteban fine tuning the Kodiak. That man worked too damn hard. _And damn this hamster tickling my fingers._

When the elevator finally arrived, he elbowed the deck one button. But, if Shepard’s trapped in the war room, he could end up waiting around for hours.

“EDI, is the Commander around?” He asked the ceiling.

“Of course, Lieutenant Vega. She is made of mass. Therefore, she occupies physical space,” EDI replied.

That AI spent too much time with Specialist Traynor. “I mean, is she available?”

“She is in a meeting.”

“Can she be interrupted?”

“It is hard to read her body language. She appears ready to fall asleep or kill someone.”

James huffed. “Sounds like she needs a break.”

“Agreed.”

*

Shepard stifled a yawn, drummed her fingers on the desk and tried to listen to the ambassador droning on with excuses about why he can’t possibly help and how Shepard was doing such a wonderful job anyway. Bloody Kaidan making his escape when he did. But she knew that pinched look and was glad he had the sense to excuse himself before she had to order him out.

“Commander.” EDI’s voice floated down from the ceiling. “My apologies for the interruption, but there is a situation with Lieutenant Vega that requires your immediate attention.”

“Thanks EDI. Excuse me, gentlemen, ladies.” Shepard pushed her chair back and marched out the war room, through security, through the CIC and to the waiting elevator. _If he’s put another bowling ball through the sleeper pods..._ Whatever it was, she was pleased for the distraction.

“EDI, what’s the situation?” She asked, hitting the button for the shuttle bay. But the elevator went up instead. “EDI?”

The doors opened at Deck 1 to the sight of James leaning against the wall, hands clasped in front of him.

“James? This better be important. I’ve got diplomats down there...” She trailed off when he grinned that big stupid grin.

He pushed off the wall and followed her into her cabin.

* 

“So, what’s in your hand? And what happened to your arm?” Shepard asked, reaching out to touch the scraped skin, but pulling back in time.

“One thing at a time, Lola.” James stepped forward, asking her to cup her palms. Carefully, so the little shit didn’t escape again, he let the hamster out of his hold and into Shepard’s. He grinned at the squeal she let out. She ran her thumb over the little fur ball, then cupped it to her nose and cheek, cooing gently.

“You caught him!” She smiled up at James. A burst of butterflies fluttered in his chest and while he blushed bright red, she dumped the hamster into its cage. She added some fresh food and dipped away to get water, whispering sweet nothings the whole time. He wished she'd whisper sweet things to him.

“Thank you, James.”

“Hey, I was just playing hero, Lola.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Had some help from the Major, too.” Without K, he’d still be down there. Probably with more busted up ribs.

Shepard raised her eyebrow at the mention of Kaidan, but must’ve understood why he’d ended up down in the depths of Engineering. Then her eye settled on James’ scraped up arm.

“So my knight in shining armour injured himself catching a hamster? I’ll get the medi-gel.” She rummaged in a drawer--James blushing again as he caught himself checking her out--then dumped a first aid box on the desk.

Aw, shit. It was that insta-heal crap that burned like napalm: a super high grade military gel that acted like a second skin. No bandages needed. Not pretty, but it worked quick. James didn’t really know how it worked. All he knew was that it cleared your sinuses as well as your scrapes. And Shepard wanted to slather it all up his arm. He made a feeble protest but Shepard gripped his wrist, squeezing the tube out and rubbing it in. James flinched at the sting and gritted his teeth. He concentrated on Shepard. Not on her hand inflicting this torture, but on her face and the focus etched into her features. It wasn’t often he got to see her up this close. On missions they might knock helmets, a kind of krogan-like hello-bump, but he couldn’t see her that well through the visors. And when they sparred she moved too quick for him to just stare. He’d be flat on his back if he didn’t keep his guard up. But now, with her eyes on his arm, he could take the time to notice a freckle to the left of her nose, and how her eyebrows were a shade lighter than her hair, and that it looked like she used to have pierced ears, but the holes had long since closed up. He was about to ask her about it when she met his eye and bumped her fists on his chest, indicating that she was done. He winced as one fist landed on his bruised ribs. Shepard caught it.

“What’s wrong with your chest?” She asked.

“Nothing, Lola. I’m fine.” He flexed his arm, checked out her handy work.

“Don’t lie. Come on, take it off. I’ve got the medi-gel right here.”

“Seriously, I’m fine.”

She folded her arms over her chest, fixed him with a glare.

“All right, all right.” He mumbled. Not like they hadn’t all stood around after missions in various states of undress, talking shit while cleaning and stowing armour, weapons, supplies. But in her cabin, just the two of them and no post-mission exhaustion keeping the body in check? _Shit_. Well, if she’s gonna make him, he may as well make a show of it. He crossed his arms, grabbing the hem of his shirt. Then he peeled it up and off, slowly, and not just because he wanted to her notice; his ribs protested, but he made sure to flex his muscles as he revealed them. He couldn’t help but smirk when he lowered his arms, tee balled up in one hand. But Shepard’s eyes weren’t saying ‘take me now’.

“Shit, James.” Shepard reached out, fingers ghosting over the big angry purple bruise under his right pec. He flinched again.

“It’s nothing.” He tried to reassure her.

“You didn’t get it chasing that hamster, did you? You’re an idiot.” She rummaged around in the box, pulling out another kind of medi-gel. Oh man, this one was even worse. An anti-inflammatory that felt like it burrowed under your skin and sucked the swelling out from the inside. It itched like crazy but at least it smelled like it was good for you. She rubbed in the gel, her other hand just holding his left side, keeping him steady. With the heat from her hand, he might need a burn gel to relieve the flames that licked at his skin from her touch.

She stood back once she was done, nodded her head in satisfaction. While she cleaned up and put the med kit away, James checked himself over. The scrape on his arm had almost returned to normal and even though it itched like hell, the swelling on his ribs had started easing immediately. He slipped his shirt back on, figuring he couldn’t just stand around half naked anymore. If Shepard looked disappointed, she didn’t show it. That made him disappointed.

“How’s Kaidan?” She asked.

“Fine,” James shrugged. “Well, pretty crap, actually. He gets those headaches a lot, no?”

“Only when he overdoes the biotics. Or gets stuck in a room of diplomats who can’t tell the ass end of a Reaper from the people trying to stop them.”

They shared a smile. _Better them than me._ Hell, he’d’ve stolen the Normandy and gone off on his own, too, if he had to deal with the Council and ambassadors and diplomats every damn step of the way. But military brass, chain of command, direct orders; he could deal with that. Though Shepard might disagree...

Shepard straightened out her dress uniform, made noises indicating that she should really get back to the war room. At least one Spectre should be there, she said, and Kaidan wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon. Shit, K. That’s why he came up here. Well, as well as dropping off that hamster.

“Oh, hey, about the Major. We got talking.” James said.

“Uh huh. Should we sit? I know how Kaidan likes to talk.” She waved off his protests of her needing to get back to work, and lead him down the stairs to the couch. James took in the room, noticed her spare N7 armour set up in the wall space, her N7 hoodie and BDUs lying on the bed, the analogue holo clock on the bedside table along with a pile of data pads and half the Normandy’s mug collection.

“Shoot.” She said.

His eyes drifted to hers. “Well, you know we didn’t really get off to a great start,” he grinned at her eye roll, “but we’ve cleared the air and we reckon the three of us would make a shit hot ground team. What’d’ya say?”

Shepard set him with a hard stare. “How’s it gonna work?”

Ah, well. He hadn’t thought this part through. He just thought they’d make a good team. Trust Shepard to make him think.

“Well, for a start, we’re the two best looking guys on the ship. Seems a waste you leaving one of us behind. ‘Course, we’d do our best to avoid distracting you. Focus on the mission and shit.”

“Distraction, huh? You know I already spend my time staring at your asses through my scope.”

James stuttered at her words, then flushed red as she laughed at his reaction.

“Come on. Give me some real reasons.” She grinned.

James composed himself, thought quick. The Major had some cool biotic tricks and with James’ quick firing, they could tag team anyone who stood in their way. Shepard’d just have to clean up and keep the heat off. Not to mention K’s own quick shooting. He rattled off his reasons to Shepard, trying to ignore the way she watched him blunder through, her small smile quirked, her head tilted, resting on her hand. Finally, he said with a pout how it all got so lonely when it was just him out front on his own with Shepard and Garrus on his six.

“All right. We’ll give it a go.”

“Really?” He couldn’t believe she’d agree to this.

“But any bitching and you’re on the sidelines, you hear me, Lieutenant?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. We’ll talk more later. Now I really have to get back.”

They caught the elevator back together, Shepard silent and James lost to his own thoughts of him, Kaidan, and Shepard charging through the galaxy, chucking grenades around and ripping people apart with electric blue light.

The doors opened on Deck 2 but Shepard paused in the door.

“Hey, James. Thanks. And if I’m not out of here by nineteen hundred, you think you could cause another distraction, give me a reason to get these asses off my ship?”

James laughed. “Anything for you, Lola.” And he meant it.

 


End file.
